Talks by Our Gurus

Sadhana to Smooth Out Karma

Sadhana to Smooth Out Karma

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
, 1999-04-25

Today Gurudeva about how in the past parents were held responsible for their children's actions, how mothers stayed at home. When children do wrong, the karma comes back on the people who sold the games that incited them and the guns they used. Similarly, the karma of causing ill health by selling Western softdrinks in villages in India will come back on the sellers and manufacturers, in the same way it will come back on the cigarette makers now marketing in Asia. In movies too, if an actor sets an example by his roll, and the children follow it to commit violence, then everyone involved with the movie becomes reponsible. Gurudeva also comments on responsible investing.

Unedited Transcript:

Today at Kauai Aadheenam. It is April 25th. Greetings, everyone! We are really so happy to be talking with you.

There are no questions today but the subject did come up of responsibility for one's actions. You know, fifty years ago, this community held the parents responsible for what the children did. There wasn't any delinquency, the parents saw to that. The mother always stayed home and took care of her children and her husband. That is just what happened. Now, in today's world when children can kill other children in schools and the parents probably, are not even talked to by anyone, not held responsible for what their children do. Pretty sad situation. But, we cannot ignore the law of karma because the karma comes back on the parents on any game or contraption that influenced the children in what they did. The person who sold the gun is also an accomplice, maybe not according to law, but according to the law of karma. That is the chain reaction of karma. No one gets away with anything.

We were told that in every village in India, they are distributing Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. There is a fear in the minds of those who know, that it is going to damage the health of the people in the villages. It will certainly damage their pocketbooks. Cigarette companies are going through Asia, distributing their wares. The karmic chain of all those who smoke and die, comes right back on the manufacturers and those who work in the factories. Maybe, not according to man's law but according to the law of karma, every action has a reaction. Not only on the individuals, but everyone concerned with it, manifesting the product that finally causes reaction.

Movie stars cause us to hurt others by what they act out. They have the excuse, of course, that they are just acting out the nature of the times like news-reporters. But, they are not news reporters, they are celebrities. People follow their example. Even a young kid can tell the difference between someone reporting the news without emotion and somebody who is acting out a murder, as if it were absolutely real. That person becomes a hero in the mind of the young person. If that person follows that example and kills or maims, the karma comes back on the actor, the writer, the producer, the investors, and on and on and on.

Why is it that stock brokers have investors if they want to have responsible investing? Many people won't put their money in anything that hurts the environment. Why? Maybe they do not know about the karmic chain. They feel responsible to their own community. They feel responsible to their nation. They feel responsible to the world community.

We could go on and on like this, about all the bad things that are happening. But, it is the responsibility of each person to be responsible to himself and his own conscience. That is why, performing regular sadhana at the same time everyday and going back through the day in reverse, making a sum total of what happened to see if it satisfies your conscience and that lays out the pattern for tomorrow. Everyone inside, knows the difference between right and wrong. It is the soul talking. The soul-driven people are people that make changes in the world.

Now we are going to hear the beautiful Tamil language, the sweet French language and the lovely Malay language. Just press another button if you know any of these languages and see how well they have translated all this.